Why the hope lives on?

Born and raised in a society of impulsive/emotional (and often wrong) responses, I, too, have this tendency to respond impulsive and this reflects in some of my posts on this blog too. When Benazir Bhutto got killed, my response was of anger and grief. I wanted to write so much on it here, driven by that anger and grief. But somehow something within me stopped me from writing immediately. I didn't realize it then what it was. My piece on that came good four days after the assassination and it was not driven by the impulsive emotion and had the impact of the reality seeped in well. When I heard the news of the assassination of Governor Taseer (may his spirit be in peace), my response was of anger, of grief, and of shock. And yet something, from within, stopped me from writing impulsively on this too. My inner voice says it is maturity.

Similarity between Governor's death and BB's death doesn't end here. In case of BB, same anchors on national media tried to justify suicide attacks on PPP camp on CJ rally and Karsaz attack, labeling them responses to BB's stand on Lal Masjid (if you don't believe me, read and watch Ansar Abbasi, Irfan Siddiqui, Hamid Mir et al. during July and October of 2007 and their beepers to various TV channels). They, in a way, tried justifying those attacks. BB was a larger than life figure and Pakistanis related to her lot more than they do to anyone else and that led to such overwhelming response on her death that even her worst haters could not abuse her again for at least one year into her death. Had this not been the case, someone would have justified her killing for her Lal Masjid stance as well. Same happened with Governor Taseer. Without discussing the merits and demerits of his stance on Blasphemy Law, same anchors, tried creating hysteria against the Governor which, in part, led to his assassination and was later used to justify his assassination by the same people. Whether the media houses let it happen intentionally or it happens for reasons purely commercial is something the media houses should think about. 

That, for reasons vested and political, the people were enticed to kill Governor should send chill up our spines. Think rationally, what has happened is not an act of murder in the name of the Prophet, deep down human emotions have been channeled to entice an individual to murder. Emotions attached to Prophet Muhammad (SAW) are intense and massive. But this exploitation cycle, if allowed to persist in the society, can lead us to a death cycle that will be never ending and that will kill the society we live in. If one side has enticed the emotions in the name of Prophet now, who will stop the other side to do the same when its time comes? What if some vicious element within us decides to print the pictures of holy-sites related to Prophet and Islam which have been demolished for the expansion in Mecca and Madina? With emotions fueled to this degree, who will stop an endless cycle of violence among the faithful then? Abbas Kumaili has sided with clergy opposing Governor and sympathizing with the killer, what if someone starts exploiting the difference of opinion Muslims have over sahaba and even on the varying interpreted stature of Prophet Muhammad in the eyes of different sects?

And why end at the Prophet? If emotions are to be exploited, they could be exploited for names and causes having much less intensity and appeal. When ZAB was hanged in 1979, the attacks on his alleged killers continued till 1982 including assassination attempts on Zia by Bhutto's followers despite appeals for non-violence by mainstream of PPP and his wife and daughter. The attacks were motivated by people who wanted to go all the way to take law into their own hands without any fear of consequences. For them too, it was a holy war. Had it not been for a deliberate and forceful effort by Nusrat Bhutto and BB, you never know how long that cycle of death continued. And why end at Bhutto, there are issues innumerable and personas innumerable in our society, on which, people could be motivated to kill whomsoever. You will find many devotional followers in Pakistan who with little enticing can be ready to be walking bombs for their social and religious leaders. Weren't the emotions exploited in the same manner when people were sent to kill Ahsan Elahi Zaheer, Sadiq Ganji, Sunni Tehrik leadership, Sarfaraz Naeemi, Hassan Jan, Benazir Bhutto, and Indira Gandhi. That exploitation, in most cases, was not in the name of the Prophet but was in the name of the idea, the religion, the sect, or the personas less superior to the Prophet. If a tit for tat on this starts, there is no shortage of killers. And most of you would have access to psychologists who could tell how easy it is to manipulate a devoted human mind. The talk above is little blunt and discomforting but I fear endless bloodshed on the mother earth and plead you all to stop. Do not play with the fire that could spread in your own direction Sirs.

I thought that in this post I will confine myself only to the social repercussions of what happened and will not delve into addressing the broader debate. But the fear of bloodshed in this land and on the earth made me revisit my initial thought. I will just raise some questions which I think are relevant and need be answered by every individual here with honesty and rationality. I have faith in the collective wisdom of mankind and in inherent good and sanity of humans and I am sure when the reality sinks in, the good will prevail. 

When I interact with people around, my views might sound offbeat. But I have been given the same Muslim upbringing anyone else would have had in a Punjabi house. I have been taught about the same religion we all follow. And in the teachings two things stood out. One, despite the worst persecutions of Meccans, Islam kept spreading for the inherent force of its idea that is universal and indefinite in time and space. And two, it is the most logical religion of all. I am sure we all have been taught this. Now take a deep breath and ask yourself one simple question. If a religion had the power to spread in the times of infancy against the worst persecution because of the power of the idea that is divine and universal, how would it be endangered by some abuses by a handful at time when Muslims are the masters of their own destiny in this land of the pure? Either you believe Islam is the most logical, divine and universal ideal that can be logically debated and discussed against any onslaught and thus become tolerant and articulate, or you, God forbid, are denying the divinity, universality and ideal you claim to defend. For a Muslim, if this is not blasphemy, I don't know what is? And if in our view, a man as grand as Muhammad (SAW), on whom, in belief of all Muslims Allah and the Angels send peace continuously, needs Hanif Jalandhari or Mumtaz Qadri to defend his honor, then, God forbid, we are contemptuous. 

Irony of the situation is that those who need a law to punish people for blasphemy are supporting someone who in the presence of the law took matters into his own hands. If the issues need to be settled out of the court, are not they themselves eroding the basis for having any such law in the first place?

Then there are the fence sitters like Haroon Rasheed. They say that the killing was wrong but they can understand why Qadri killed Governor for his provocative statement and that such matters should not be debated at all in public. The only problem with this argument is that if we give Qadri license to kill for he found governor's opposition to blasphemy law provocative, where will we end? What if some sect demands repealing on zakat law as it stands right now? What if someone like Nawaz Sharif wants a Shariah amendment for his own dictatorial powers the day after tomorrow and someone finds it offensive to oppose the amendments because they are named Shariah? And what if some devoted follower of Asif Zardari finds opposition to an amendment aimed at making him life-time president offensive? What if a Barelvi kills a Deobandi because he doesn't consider Prophet noor? or a Shia kills a Sunni for he does not consider Ali the wali? We cannot start handing licenses to kill for issues sentimental. Rather than forcefully condemning the killing and injustice that has happened here, these fence-sitters are indirectly trying to justify an act which they themselves consider wrong. Rather than encouraging people to debate differences openly in a civilized manner, they want to silence the thought. Quresh used to say, ‘what You say is right but how can we defy what we follow?’ These apologists are saying, ‘what has happened is wrong, but it’s justified in line of our belief?’ Do we see any similarity here? O’ self-deceivers, what if in your sleep or in Its blessings, the light of the Prophet asks, why you do injustice in My name?

Whether I agree with it or not, the law of blasphemy is part of the statute of Pakistan and I have to abide by it. It did not emerge in the law of the land magically, the people put it there and we the people of Pakistan need to have the tolerance to modify or amend any such law through a prescribed procedure. Polity does not work disconnected with the society and so if the majority of Pakistanis have certain wishes with regard to any law, any modification in the law cannot be distant from society's sentiments - specially when the law-makers have to go back to the public to seek fresh mandate. Anyone who suggests otherwise doubts the religious affiliation of the people of Pakistan. For issue sentimental to them, they will vote in any coming election to ensure that it gets resettled as per their desire. 

The incident raises questions for the state of Pakistan and those at the helm of affairs of its organs as well. Who has been killed was the sitting Lat Sahab of Punjab. That fact, coupled with the manner of killing, raises serious questions about sustainability of the state itself. I am not sure if the masters of the state realize that these tendencies, if not checked here, will keep attacking the state harder and harder. They have shown their ability to hit in any institution at any level. I hope the intensity of the situation is realized among the masters of state institutions.

We have fallen deeper into a ditch. For our ways have become unsustainable, is the writing on the wall. Do we change them on our own or we are forced to do this, is the question. If our problems become others' problems, they could settle them through B52s. But if our problems remain our problems, none will lose except us. Law of natural justice makes me convinced this cannot go on like this. I do not really know if we know where we are and what lower we are headed to. Contemplate and correct or be ready for a forced correction.

And I am hopeful for I believe in the resilience of human spirit. A little over a year ago, everyone thought that Pakistanis are blinded in their support of Taliban and they cannot realize the cancer that is eating them from within. It was labeled blasphemous talking against the terrorists. Media was trumpeting the jingoistic Taliban tune. And yet the collective conscience of this nation ultimately realized the danger we faced and the world was surprised to see how swiftly we moved against the Taliban in Swat and Waziristan. Our flag was hoisted in Swat again and the majority of us rejected the idea of Talibanization. 

Now again, we face the existential threat. A threat caused by intolerance and exploitation at the hands of vested interests. Media is trumpeting the same beat and we have been exploited in the name of ideas, ideals and the Persona dear to us. Everyone is hopeless and thinks that we will remain blinded and enter into an endless cycle of death and bloodshed. Yet I have not lost hope in the collective wisdom of human beings, in the ability of mankind and my people to realize the reality, though with some delay. We have to ask ourselves the questions we have been prohibited to ask in the name of blind faith by the vested interest. We have to listen to our inner voices. The voice that is closer to us than our heart is, closer than our jugular vein. The voice that is the light of the ages.